medical stuff

Virgil

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I'm looking for some books on neuroscience aka stupid brain tricks.

I heard a radio bit on npr about the brain cycling and re-seting ones brain by breathing through one nostril for a given time and then the other one.

I'd like to know more about things the brain can do like this.

thanks for your help


Virgil
 
Virgil said:
I'm looking for some books on neuroscience aka stupid brain tricks.

I heard a radio bit on npr about the brain cycling and re-seting ones brain by breathing through one nostril for a given time and then the other one.

I'd like to know more about things the brain can do like this.
Click to expand...

Well, the brain can figure out that the idea of cycling and resetting the brain by breathing through alternate nostrils is a load of hooey.

It can also figure out that the reason it got on NPR is that it is Eastern and Newage hooey.
 
actually, as someone who listens to NPR all the time when working and driving, i never heard that segment. Usually NPR (the news part, anyway) is pretty good in their treatment of science. i say i want to see some evidence.
how about a link to the story on the NPR website Virgil?
 
If you want to know about strange things the brain can do try getting a book of illusions.
 
bug_girl said:
actually, as someone who listens to NPR all the time when working and driving, i never heard that segment. Usually NPR (the news part, anyway) is pretty good in their treatment of science. i say i want to see some evidence.
how about a link to the story on the NPR website Virgil?
Click to expand...

NPR news is usually pretty good. The human interest pieces, well...
 
I'm trying to be serious here

I'm trying to find the link it was on Terri Gross' "fresh air" ca. 4 months ago. FYI Terri Gross doesn't reply to her e mail.

It sounded legit (not like bunk) but I'm not an MD so I really couldn't be sure



yes I am ca.4 months behind in my fun activies.


the author claimed to be a neuro(either surgeon or scientist) and the interview was supporting a book he had written. I was driving so I didn't get the info.

he talked about other "recent" brain stuff . little stupid things you would know if you were in that field. I thought there might a neuroscientist on the board that would know about this.

Thanks
Virgil
 
here's what i found:

Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Host: TERRY GROSS
Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Michael Baime, M.D. discuss God and the brain: tracking transcendence. Newberg conducted brain scans while people prayed and meditated to see if he could locate the brain function that caused the feeling of oneness and the presence of God. His book on the subject is calledWhy God Wont Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, by Newberg, Eugene DAqulli M.D. and Vince Rause (Ballantine). Newberg is an assistant professor in the department of Radiology in the Division of Nuclear Medicine, and an instructor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Michael Baime was one of the participants in the study. He is a meditation expert who runs a stress management program out of the University of Pennsylvania. Baime is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has practiced meditation since the age of 14.
 
this one looks like a more likely candidate, but is quite recent:
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Host: TERRY GROSS

Bruce McEwen is a pioneering expert on the ways in which the brain influences the body. He is the author of ""The End of Stress As We Know It" (with Elizabeth Norton Lasley, published by Joseph Henry Press). The book examines the response of the body to stress, what happens when the body's stress response turns against us, and how to keep that from happening. Dr. McEwen is head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York City.
 
I suspose that could be it...but my impression was that it was more science based than meditation.

however it could be that he just mentioned the cool brain trick as an aside to fill air time.



But I stand corrected, I was just wondering if the BB with the smartest people (JREF of course) knew more about this topic.

I mean we have cool little tricks in chemistry so it seemed reasonable that brain doctors would have the same.

oh well...

Thanks for your help
Virgil
 
Virgil said:
I suspose that could be it...but my impression was that it was more science based than meditation.

however it could be that he just mentioned the cool brain trick as an aside to fill air time.



But I stand corrected, I was just wondering if the BB with the smartest people (JREF of course) knew more about this topic.

I mean we have cool little tricks in chemistry so it seemed reasonable that brain doctors would have the same.

oh well...

Thanks for your help
Virgil
Click to expand...
I'm sure someone with qualifications in that field will pop up, given a bit of time. However, this "brain reset" idea sounds pretty ridiculous. I imagine the major effect is to encourage concentration on one's breathing, which I understand is a feature of many meditation techniques (isn't breathing in one nostril and out the other a Yoga technique? This just sounds like a variation, dressed up in pseudoscientific language).
 
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